Distance Between Sun and Moon
by demarcation
Summary: As trouble brews in Gensokyo, three friends find themselves free agents that may affect the status of the World of Illusion, and have potentially world rocking repercussions in the Outside. Rated M for creative freedom. Includes OCs.
1. From Summer Rain to No Moon

It was right around midnight when I wandered into my brother Mike's room. In the thick darkness, it was difficult to see more than basic features, but the predominant feature of the room was readily visible. He had a large, hookah-esque device set up in the center, that he built. Apparently it was a hub for virtual reality, and they played games on it using the helmets connected via cords. I didn't really buy it, but that's what they've been doing for the past couple of hours.

"Hey Mike, Mom said to tell you if you are still using that when the storm rolls in" Flash. Crack. "to stop before your brains get fried." Mike and his two friends, Steve and Jeff, kinda stared at me for a second before coming to an agreement.

"Yolo?"

"Yolo."

"Swag."

Mike evidently lost the last round, since Steve and Jeff were the ones who slammed into their helmets and proceeded to become oblivious to the world. I sat cross legged beside Mike, resting my head on my fist.

"Don't worry so much, Sara." Mike leaned back. "If the house does get struck, the power strip should stop the surge."

"That sounds iffy, at best." Flash. Light flooded the room, illuminating it with a terrible light. They were endowed with deathly pale skin, and, with the two slumped over and Mike leaning back, a sort of ghastly image was burned into my mind. I don't know if Mike saw it, but he sat up almost immediately after. Crack.

"It'll be fine."

"What are you guys doing, anyway?" I asked as Steve and Jeff came back to reality.

Steve answered first, "You know, journeying to distant lands and fighting glorious battles." He shrugged. "The usual."

Unwilling to let that statement stand, Jeff added, "But that's not all we can do." And he winked. I did my best to ignore him.

"Come on, man. That's my sister. There should be a rule against that," Mike sighed. He looked at me, "Wanna go?" Proof is in the pudding, I guess. Time to see what they've been up to. I took the helmet as Jeff spoke.

"And you get to face the champion!"

Steve added, somewhat venomously, "Yeah, maybe you can finally win if you play a girl younger than you, with no experience in the game." I put the helmet on without taking stock of Jeff's reaction. Silently, Jeff initialized the game...

Flash. Rumble. The floor fell out from beneath me.

The grass pricked me awake. Strange. Sitting up, I noticed I was sitting on a small hill. Well, we. Jeff was nearby, still passed out. It was dark, with no moon, but still light enough to see. The grass was unkept, and a forest of enormous trees bordered the hill on one side. To the other, a lakeside path.

Jeff was spread eagle, mouth wide open and sleeping sloppily. No wonder he lost each time. I could probably stomp him to death and end it right now, but... something seemed... off, though. Like why weren't we, like, avatars, or whatever? No armor? I was still in pajamas for crying out loud. Incredibly detailed, accurate pajamas around a completely accurate me? If this was programming, Mike would have to answer for it.

"Hey," I shook Jeff. This was kinda messed up. "Jeff! I think something's wrong! Wake up!" Jeff groaned.

"Damn right something's wrong. Still," he eyed me seriously, "this is a sight I could only dream of." I wanted to hit him. So bad. Before I could act on a reasonable impulse, a rustling sound came from the woods. Both our attentions darted to a small, blonde girl emerging from the woods with a smile on her face.

Jeff stood up. She kept winding her way toward us, eyes fixated on Jeff. Her movements were like that of a cat that doesn't know it's been seen. When she was within about 10 feet of us, Jeff said, "What are you doing here? Don't you know what time it is?"

Smile unwavering, she took a step back. Speaking with an adoring voice, "Can, can I eat you?" I noticed then that she was covered in what looked like dried blood. Jeff looked down at me and shrugged, "I guess she wants my D." My jaw dropped.

"You ass, she's here to kill us!" I scrambled to my feet and started to back away. She glanced at me, but otherwise kept her eyes on Jeff. Her beautiful, red eyes. She took two steps, long and lurching before lunging at his throat with unreal speed. Jeff promptly kicked her in the face as hard as he could, and she fell back on her feet, staggering slightly.

Before Jeff could celebrate his premature victory, she batted at his hip, dropping him easily. She lifted her leg, preparing a strike to his head. Before the descent, I snatched her other leg out from under her, holding her at arms length. For a moment or two, she flailed wildly. Suddenly she stopped and gave me a strange look, like a dog formulating a plan to steal your pizza.

Her body twisted suddenly and we left the ground, a bumblebee to heavy for its wings. "Leeeet gooooooo!" she cried out, arms extended to either side to maintain balance. In reply, I shouted, "AAAAAAAAAAah! Put me dowwwwwn!"

In a final gambit, she lunged at me from midair, causing us to drop rapidly. As we tumbled downward, all I could do was place my feet on her collar to keep her away. She hit the ground first, with a loud cracking sound. It wasn't too big of a drop, but she was caught between a rock (terre firma) and a hard place (my feet). I rolled a bit down the hill, and considering all things, was not much worse for the wear.

Jeff pulled me up by my arm, and we started running for the path.

"Sara, you really need to watch your weight."

"H-how can you joke at a time like this?" I was still out of breath from the fall. "I see a light. O-over there!" I was in the lead now. Jeff wasn't very good at running. When we were certain no one was following, we slowed to a walk, still closing the distance to the swaying red light.

"You know what a red light means, right?"

"It means I should have let her eat you?"

"It means _fun_, Sara."

As the light neared, a sound of wooden wheels on stone was heard, and an ethereal hum hung on the air. Lilting melody caused all but the cart to fade to the periphery, and we quickened our pace even as it stopped. Abruptly the hum silenced, and we almost tripped in surprise. Were the insects always this loud?

"Oh?" The voice almost had dual, harmonic tones. "Customers... but you smell like outsiders. Outsiders don't usually have money~." A young woman, a few years younger than me, pink hair, brown dress, wings, and a strange hat were at the front of the cart.

"And what do you sell, little lady?" Jeff asked. The cart ground to a halt.

The girl put on a gentle, businessman's smile. "Food and drink, a place to sit and talk. Advice is free-" A ghostly, pained wail interrupted her. She didn't waver, though. "But help is not."

"I'm sorry, but," I started, "could we discuss this on the move?"

"Sure~. There's a bench on the side," she said, "if you'd like to save your energy for later. Please bear in mind that I have to stop the cart to make food. My name's Mystia. What's yours?"


	2. A Free Ride and A Little Insight

"So, you knew that monster? Are you two friends, or..." Jeff kinda trailed off. He'd spent at least a mile trying to sweet talk information out of our new acquaintance. He was doing a fine job of it, so I busied myself with trying to figure out exactly what kind of mess we were in. Hope was running out on that front.

Mystia was silent for a moment. "I'm neighbors with someone of fits the description but- and no offense- but I don't think you could stop Rumia-chan. There are plenty of other..." She paused for a moment. "Did she have a ribbon in her hair? Red?"

Jeff leaned back. "Nope. No ribbon. There was a lot of blood on her. Maybe it fell off?"

"Ha, no, she's taken more than a few beatings without losing it~."

"Beatings, huh. And we wouldn't have a chance?"

"I hope that doesn't put things too far into perspective. Don't worry, though. Most people on the other end of the beatings probably wouldn't target you specifically."

I spoke up, "How far up does the power ladder go, Mystia?" Jeff gave me a nod. At least he knew where I was going.

"Well, there are at least a few gods on it. Pretty high?"

"Anyone who could send us back?"

Silence. "A few."

"How would we go about doing that? Sounds like people like us show up kinda often."

"...Depends. You don't smell like the rest of them. That... increases your chances? But..." A couple of yards passed. "How much do you want to go back?"

"What do you mean? On a scale of..."

"Is it worth your life~? Innocence~?" The allure of her voice dulled. "How about your soul? I'm sure one of them is willing to trade. Even if you _never_ make it back, I'm _sure_ they'll hear your request."

That dampened spirits for a while. Jeff piped up, "You said we smell different. Is there a specific reason you mention that, or are we like the chosen ones, or something?" Mystia didn't answer for a while.

"There is a _very _specific reason. I'm going to leave it at, it's a blessing and maybe the solitary reason you're alive right now." She thought for a long moment. Just as I was starting to get the 'gingerbread house' sort of feeling, she added, "Keep your eyes on the side of the road, for just a moment."

Jeff and I stared into the darkness. Vague outlines of the lake, of reeds, a few trees. "Mystia, I-" There. Movement. Hair stood up on my neck, breath dead in my throat. A sort of hunched figure froze, unbreathing. I would have thought I was just seeing things but... It did nothing to hide its eyes.

Mystia spoke, tearing our attentions from the shape, and it was lost in the darkness. "There are rules here~. Some are smart enough to follow them~."

Jeff fixed his eyes behind us."Hey, Mystia. Is it just our smell? Keeping us safe?" Mystia hummed, darkening the lights for a moment.

"Amongst other things." A patter of feet could be heard. Slowly catching up to us.

"What exactly do you sell? To eat, I mean."

"I'm glad you asked~! Lamprey, mostly. I can't stand the thought of selling poultry!"She started to slow down. Rattle-rattle. Stop. A figure, step-by-step came into view, silhouetted except for the yellow eyes. Mystia came around the side of the cart.

"Mysty-chan, did you save one for me?"

"Of course, Wriggle-chan~. Don't I always?"

Author's note

Lotta dialogue. Lot of it. If I had to choose what I'm best at, probly dialogue. Doesn't mean I'm good at it, but better than my action scene. Practice makes perfect. And sorry about the cliffhanger (what little of it there is). I really didn't see that coming, honestly.

Also quite a bit shorter than the previous one, but that was the first. First should be longer. Probly.

Also-also! Probably. See, I can spell it. Huh.


End file.
